Interior ventilation system



Oct. 6, 1959 A. E. KOLBE.

' INTERIOR-VENTILATION SYSTEM,

5 Sheets-Shet 1 Filed Oct. 4, 1954 iNVN l'OR @141) a? 3: 715762 BY ATTORNEY 6, 1959 A. E.-KOLBQE 2,907,309

INTERIOR VENTILATION SYSTEM I INVENTOR ATTORNEY Oct. 6, 1959 Y A. E. KOLBE INTERIOR VENTILATION SYSTEM 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed 001;. 4, 1954 6- lillll ATTORNEY United States Patent G 2,901,309 INTERIOR VENTILATION SYSTEM Adelbert E. Kolbe, Detroit, Mich, assignor' to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Application October 4, '1954, Serial No. 460,021

'5 Claims. (Cl. 12341.86)

This invention relates to ventilation systems for engines and has particular relation to interior ventilation systems for 8-cylinder, V-type internal combustion engines for automotive and other uses.

It has been the practice heretofore to design engines in such a way that the interior ventilation system therefor consisted mostly of a collection of separate inlet tubes, draft tubes, separators, b'afiles, covers, etc., these being assembled on the engine as more or less separate attachments and parts. This has caused the engine to be unnecessarily expensive and difiicult to service and these parts and attachments have projected outwardly in inconvenient places thereby making it difficult to install the engine and to install therewith the various accessories and controls which internal combustion engines for automotive and other purposes have required.

It is now proposed to construct an internal combustion engine in such a way that the interior ventilation system therefor will be built into the engine and so that the various parts of the system will be simplified and reduced in number and combined with other parts of the engine to provide a less expensive and more compact and more easily serviced and installed installation.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an engine employing an interior ventilation system embracing the various features of the invention.

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the engine disclosed by Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view of the rear part of the engine and illustrating the outlet for the interior ventilation system of the engine.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the structure disclosed by Figure 3 and taken substantially in the plane of line 44 on Figure 3 looking in the direction of the arrows thereon.

The engine embodying the invention comprises an engine block 11, heads 12, a manifold support structure 13 and an oil pan 14. The manifold support structure 13 comprises a continuous body 16 extending between the heads 12 and the front wall 17 and the rear wall 18 of the block 11. The body 16 has side walls 19 which are adapted to be secured to the side Walls 21 of the heads 12 by bolts 22. The bolts22 also engage the ends of the body 16 against the upper edges of the end walls 17 and 18 in such manner that the body 16 entirely encloses the camshaft gallery 23 between the cylinder banks 24 of the block 11. The cylinders 26 which are disposed in obliquely disposed rows within the cylinder banks 24 are adapted to receive reciprocating pistons 27 connected by .connecting rods 28 to the crankshaft 29 of the engine.

The crankshaft 29 is mounted in bearings formed in the block 11 and within the crankcase 31 which is formed in the lower part of the block 11. The crankcase 31 is closed by the oil pan 14 in the upper part of which the ice crankshaft 29 is also adapted to rotate. The heads 12 are removably secured to each bank of cylinders 24 of the block 11 by bolts 32.

The interior ventilation system for the engine is formed by providing an inlet tube 33 which is secured in an opening formed. in the front part of the body 16 and communieating with an inlet leading outwardly from a cavity 34 formed in the front wall '17 of the block 11. The inlet tube 33 may be provided with a cap 36 which may include filtering means for air which is adaptedtobe continuously supplied to the tube 33' through apertures in the lower extremity thereof. The cap'36 also may be removed from the tube 33 for supplying oil to the engine'10. The front wall 17 is formed to provide an opening 37 which leads from the cavity 34'to a passage '38 formed within the interior of a timing chain cover 39 adapted to be removably secured to the front wall 17. The cover 39 also-provides means for enclosing the timing gear mechanism of the engine which includes gear 41 secured to the front end of the camshaft 42 and driven by a timing chain 43 from gear 44 secured to-the front end of the crankshaft 29. The camshaft is supported in the block 11 by bearings 46 formed in the front Wall 17 and the rear wall 18 and. the intermediate walls 47 of the block 11. The crankshaft 29 also is supported in bearings 48 formed as a part of the walls 17, 13 and 46. The passage 38 in the cover 39 communicates with the lower partof the crankcase 31 through an opening 49 between the front bearing 48 of the crankshaft 29 and the front end of the oil pan 14. The Oh supplied to the lubricating system of the engine through tube 33 will flow into the lower part of the oil pan 14 through the cavity 34, the opening 37, the passage '38 and the opening '49. Also, air is supplied to the interior of the engine by tube '33. The air will flow into the crankcase 31 and the oil pan 14 through cavity 34, opening 37, passage 38 and opening 49. The air supplied to the crankcase 32 and oil pan 14 will flow upwardly through transverse compartments 51 which arev formed between thewalls 17, 18 and 46 and into the camshaft gallery 23 through passages 52 formed through a bridging wall 53 extending between the lower extremities of the cylinder banks 24 and forminglthe upper part of a housing '54 for the camshaft 42. There is a plurality of the openings52 through the bridging wall 53 for each of the compartments 51. The air will flow outwardly of the camshaft gallery 23 through an oil separator 56 which is secured in a horizontal position in the gallery '23 in an opening formed in the upper part of the rear wall 18. The oil separator 56 may be constructed in any suitable manner but in the present instance the separator consists of an outer casing 57 having a reduced end 58 which is adapted to be inserted in the opening in the wall 18 with a relatively tight fit. The casing 57 may be secured to the bridging wall 53 by a bracket 59 and a screw 61 thus preventing the separator from being displaced from the opening in the wall 18 during the operation of the engine. The end of the casing 57 is closed by an end wall .62 which is provided with an. eccentric and flanged opening in which a tube 63 is inserted and secured in closely spaced relation to the lower part of the casing 57. The inner end of the tube 63 is supported on an inwardly disposed projection 64 and is partly closed by a perforated wall 66. The perforated wall 66 will separate much of the oil suspended in the air flowing through the tube 63 and such separated 'oil will return to the camshaft gallery 23 through an opening 67. The perforated wall 66 increases and then decreases the velocity of the air received from the tube 63 and after which the air may expand into the space between the tube 63 and the surrounding part of the casing 57. Oil may settle out of the air as a result of this expansion, and may flow into the camshaft gallery 23 through the opening 68. The reduced end of the separator 56 projects into a cavity 69 that is formed in the block 11 outwardly of the rear end wall 18. The cavity 69 may be closed to the atmosphere by a disk 71 which may be pressed against a shoulder 72 in an opening leading to the cavity 69. The rear wall 18 also is formed to provide a rearwardly projecting flange 73 which extends from the upper central part of the rear wall 18 downwardly in opposite directions to the edges of the rear wall adjacent the upper and outer extremities of the cylinder banks 24. Below these extremities the rear wall and the flange 73 project downwardly on the supports 74 which project outwardly in opposite directions between the lower edges of the block 11 and the upper and outer extremities of the cylinder banks 24. Within the outwardly and downwardly projecting flange 73 is a depression 76 which surrounds the bearings 46 and 48 in the rear wall 18 in which the rear end of the camshaft 42 and the rear end of the crankshaft 29 are mounted. The rearwardly disposed surface of the flange 73 is adapted to be engaged by flange 77 formed around the forward end of a clutch housing 78 enclosing the forward part of the transmission mechanism with which the engine may be provided. The clutch housing 78 encloses the depression 76 in the rear wall 18 and within the flange 73. The parts of the rear Wall 18 forming the cavity 69 extend rearwardly and terminate substantially in the plane of the rearwardly disposed surface of the flange 73. Secured in an opening formed in the lower wall 75 of the casing 70 forming the cavity 69 is a draft tube 80 which extends obliquely across the depression 76 at one side of the rearwardly extending parts of the rear camshaft and crankshaft bearings 46 and 48 respectively. The tube 80 extends through an opening formed in a lower flange 85 that extends inwardly from the opposite'and lower extremities of the flange 73 to the middle of the main bearing 48 for the rear end of the crankshaft 29. Beyond the flange 85 the tube 80 projects downwardly and outwardly of the engine and terminates in an obliquely disposed rearwardly facing opening. The motion of the vehicle with which the engine may be employed will cause a draft on the end of the tube 80 which will tend to exhaust air from the cavity 69 and to cause a draft through out the interior of the engine from the tube 33. Also, the fan of the engine at the front of the engine which may be driven by pulley 91 will tend to blow air into the perforations in the lower part of the cap 36 for creating an inwardly moving supply of air within the tube 33. The pulley 91 may be driven by a belt 79 in turn driven by a pulley 81 adapted to be driven by the crankshaft 29 of the engine.

It will be apparent that the draft tube 80 can be driven into the opening in the lower flange 85 and the opening in the lower wall 75 in such manner as to become a permanently assembled part of the block 11 of the engine. The tube 80 is enclosed throughout substantially its entire length in the depression 76 and within the clutch housing 78 of the engine and therefore is not an outwardly projecting part of the engine that-may interfere with the installation of the engine in any kind of vehicle. The lower end of the tube 80 extends outwardly in front of the part of the clutch housing 78 extending below the block 11 and therefore does not interfere with controls and accessory devices which are ordinarily mounted above the engine and on the opposite sides of the engine. The cavity 69 may be formed as a part of the block 11 and therefore does not represent a material construction cost and involves no service or installation cost, The separator 59 is a simple and inexpensive device that also may be installed as an assembled part of the block 11 and does not require assembly installation after the principal parts of the engine are assembled. The passages 52 are simply :formed during the construction of the block 11 and like- A A wise involve no problem of construction and installation. The cavity 34 also is formed as a part of the block 11, as likewise is the opening 37 leading to the passage 38 in the timing chain cover 39. The timing chain cover 39 is required to cover the timing gear of the engine and therefore no expense is involved in the provision of the passage 38. The tube 33 and the cap 36 are assembled as a part of the manifold support structure 13 and can be removed from the engine with the manifold support structure to completely expose the camshaft gallery 23 of the engine.

It may be desirable to provide a manifold heating passage 86 across the central part of the body 16 for the purpose of heating the inlet manifold 82 which is also formed in the body 16. In such event it may be desirable to provide a baffle 83 across the lower part of the heating passage 86 for the purpose of shielding the heating passage 86 from the air and vaporous substances circulating within the camshaft gallery 23. The baffle 83 may be secured to the body 16 by screws indicated at 84.

I claim:

1. An interior ventilation system for an internal combustion engine having a crankcase and comprising a cast unitary engine block having a front wall, a cavity formed in the upper part of said front wall and having an opening extending through said front wall, passage means associated with said block and connecting said opening to the lower part of the crankcase of said engine, a camshaft gallery communicating with said crankcase and formed in said block, an inlet formed in said block and leading to said cavity, a cover secured to said block over said inlet and said gallery, means for supplying air through said cover and said inlet and said cavity for ventilating said crankcase and said gallery and means for exhausting said air from said engine.

2.. An interior ventilation system for an internal combustion engine having a unitary engine block formed to provide a crankcase in the lower part thereof and a camshaft gallery in the upper part thereof, passage means formed in said block and providing communication between said crankcase and said camshaft gallery, a cavity formed in the upper part of said block and adjacent said camshaft gallery, passage means associated with said block and connecting said cavity with the lower part of said crankcase, a cover for said cavity and said camshaft gallery and extending over the upper part of said engine for closing said camshaft gallery and said cavity, means for supplying air to said cavity for ventilating the interior spaces of said engine in communication with said crankcase and camshaft gallery, and means for exhausting said air.

3. A crankcase ventilation system for an internal combustion engine as defined by claim 2 and in which a tube is secured in said cover and extends through said cover and communicates with said cavity for supplying said air to said cavity. 7

4. An interior ventilation system for an internal combustion engine having an engine block having a wall and formed to provide a crankcase and a camshaft gallery therein, a cavity formed in said wall of said block and communicating with said camshaft gallery through an opening formed in said wall, an oil separator disposed in said camshaft gallery and having an outlet secured in said opening in said wall and providing communication between said camshaft gallery and said cavity for transferring air from said camshaft gallery to said cavity, and a draft tube disposed outwardly of said wall and communicating with said cavity for exhausting air supplied to said crankcase through said camshaft gallery, said oil separator and said cavity. V

5. An interior ventilation system for an internal combustion engine having a crankcase formed to provide a camshaft gallery and a crankcase, a pair of cavities formed in opposite walls of said block and communicating with one another through said crankcase and said camshaft gallery, a tube for supplying air to one of said cavities,

a tube for exhausting air from the other of said cavities, and an oil separator disposed in said camshaft gallery and having an outlet secured in an opening in a wall of said block between said camshaft gallery and said other of said cavities and communicating with said other of said cavities for separating oil from the vaporous substances supplied to said other of said cavities.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Doughty Dec. 1, 1953 

